Sex, Art, and Fashion

Last night I found this stunning mesh riding habit at We Love Roleplay. The Lady Worsley riding habit is a collaboration between Belle Epoque and Jinx, and the skirt is rigged for Water Horse's drafts and light horses. The riding habit is available in a number of colors. You have to buy each skirt separately: the walking skirt, the light horse riding skirt, and the draft riding skirt. I wish there had been an option to get all three skirts in one package. But what if you have a riding unicorn or one of Cheval d'Or's add-ons? And who was Lady Worsley anyway?

Seymour Dorothy Fleming was an 18th Century aristocrat. She married Sir Richard Worsley when she was 17. She was painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds in her riding habit, which was designed to match her husband's military uniform. The marriage was unhappy, and she had many lovers. She and her husband separated and when he died, she married her current lover who was 21 years younger than she was. You can read more about her and find out about book and movie versions of her life here.

Reynolds was known for his full length portraits, and was knighted for his contribution to the arts. Here is the portrait:

The mesh version of this riding habit is not the first to be offered in Second Life. Amethyst's Accessories offers it for classic avatars. Her package includes a walking skirt and a side saddle skirt, in addition to the astride skirt which drapes over the horse's back. It is designed to fit AKK horses, and is adjustable. Here is the side saddle version:

The mesh habit is rigged for the Water Horse riding horses. My favorite horse at the moment is the Friesian add-on from Cheval d'Or. It works with the WH riding unicorn. There's no demo of the riding skirt, so does it work? The skirt made for the light horses fits the Friesian fairly well, though a little clipping happens in back. It's worse on the unicorn.

The Friesian is on the left.

What happens if you get the walking skirt and try to ride side saddle in it?

Thankfully there's a demo for the walking skirt. It sort of works, but has an unnatural looking wrinkle in the lap.

Will the draft riding skirt fit the Cheval d'Or add-ons? Not really. Here it is on the Marwari and the fit was similar on the Friesian. The back drape didn't clip at all but it was much bigger than the horse.

The skirts fit well on the horses they are designed for. The gold is shiny, and the outfit is lovely. I'm going to wear it often on my Friesian/Unicorn.

Credits:

Mesh riding habit is now at We Love Roleplay
Classic avatar riding habit is on Marketplace
Cheval d'Or Friesian is also on Marketplace

Update:  I have since acquired Cheval D'Or's Arabian add-on. The Lady Worsley riding habit works beautifully on it.

Back in the Sidesaddle Again

Since I am generally a Victorian lady in Second Life, being able to ride sidesaddle is important to me. As you know, I've devoted several blogs to this topic as methods became available. Now there's a sidesaddle set for the Water Horse Riding Horse. It's made by Mythril. To use, you switch out the animations in the custom tack AO, just like you would change animations in your own AO. The Mythril animations have the same name as the default animations, so you don't have to change the notecard. More animations are supposed to follow in updates, but it's fine for general riding now.

And what to wear? Mesh riding skirts just don't drape as well as some of the old flexi skirts, not to mention the lack of movement. Most of the old outfits with flexi skirts have not been updated for mesh bodies. To get the best of both worlds, I'm wearing a mash up here: a flexi side saddle skirt, a jacket with cravat, and a hat from still another outfit. I'm mashing up the centuries as well, with 18th-century skirt and hat and a steampunk jacket. The skirt is available in a variety of colors, and the jacket has a color change hud. The hat comes in many colors as well. This is an expensive option if you go out and buy three outfits, but I already had two of them. The 18th-century outfit comes with a tricorn hat as well as a walking skirt and a skirt for riding astride. I'm wearing a different hat because it has flowers, and I liked it with the mane.

I'm riding through Caledon Moors in the photo. My horse is wearing a third party mane and tail, as well as alternate tack. The mane and tail are color change and come with a hud. His coat and eyes have also been modified. Which brings us to the credits....

Credits:

Jacket and cravat: Tainted Love from RaMp
Skirt: Brotherhood from Wunderlich (comes in other colors)
Hat: Antoinette from Ladies Pleasure (comes in other colors)
Hair: Kiara 2 from VolutptasVirtalis
Mesh body is Maitreya
Mesh head is Catya from Catwa
Khaly Skin from YS&YS

Warmblood riding horse from Water Horse (there is also a quarter horse)
Flanders mane and tail from Jinx, now at WLRP
Aerith Tack from Jinx (comes in other colors)
Coat: Almost White from Painted Pony
Eye: my own texture
Side Saddle Set from Mythril

Pose set 1from Mythril

Windlights:

Places Wiccan
Phototools Jessica light 4

Sidesaddle!

The Water Horse riding horse is lovely, but the only way to ride it is astride. Consequently, many Victorian ladies were afraid they would scandalize the neighborhood if they bought one. An official sidesaddle is being worked on, but now there's a hud that puts you in the right position. The actual saddle doesn't change, but no one will notice if you wear a big enough skirt.

It works for both the warmblood and the quarter horse. The right stirrup seems to be rigged to the right leg, and it stays with the leg as it crosses over the horse. You can edit the stirrup to make it transparent, which makes both stirrups disappear. Then, if you want a side saddle stirrup, you can get one that attaches to your foot, so it's always in the right place.

Why would you buy this hud and an extra stirrup when an official sidesaddle is on the way? When you're impatient and these add ons are cheap! You can get both for $57L.

Credits:

Water Horse warmblood

Gaslight riding habit in red from Ladies Pleasure

Sidesaddle hud
Stirrup Add-ons